International Publications
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Item Metadata only Trajectories of academic performance in sexually abused children and potential correlates(Developmental Child Welfare, 2024) Jean-Thorn, A., & Hébert, M.Background: Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is associated with detrimental consequences in children, including lower academic performance. However, studies have rarely explored the diversity of longitudinal academic profiles among CSA victims. Objectives: The objectives of this study were (1) to identify trajectories of academic performance in CSA victims and (2) to explore potential correlates of these trajectories. Participants and settings: The study involved 738 Canadian children between the ages of 5 and 14 who had experienced CSA and their non-offending parent and their teacher. Methods: At three different assessment times, spaced 6 months apart, the child’s teacher was invited to complete a questionnaire regarding the child’s academic performance. Measures of potential correlates of the trajectories were assessed by teacher (child’s behavior problems), parents (children’s experience of peer victimization) and children (coping strategies). Results: The three-trajectory model was selected as the final model. The High functioning trajectory (42%) included children who exhibited high academic performance at the first assessment but decreased slightly over time. The Low and Increasing trajectory (16%) identified children whose academic results were initially low but improved over time. Finally, the Moderate and Stable trajectory (42%) comprised children with an average academic performance over time. Compared to the other two groups, children in the High functioning trajectory were less likely to show peer victimization and externalizing and internalizing behavior problems as assessed by caregiver and teacher. They were also younger and living in more socially and economically advantaged backgrounds. Conclusions: These results emphasize the crucial role of available resources in a child’s environment and their protective effect on their academic adaptation.Item Metadata only Knowledge, Attitudes and Self–Efficacy of Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Among Teachers in Selected Secondary Schools in Abeokuta South Local Government, Ogun State(Psychology, 2024) Ogunleye, C. A., Chidinma Abaribe, E., Omotade¹, S. J., & Ogunbunmi, O. O.Sexual violence against children is a gross violation of children's rights and as well an undeniable global reality across all countries. This social ill occurs in various forms including rape, sexual assault, child sexual abuse etc. The objective of the study is to assess the level of knowledge, attitude and self-efficacy of secondary school teachers on child sexual abuse prevention. A descriptive cross-sectional design was used and a Convenience sampling technique was adopted for the study. A structured self-administered questionnaire was used. A sample of 164 teachers was administered questionnaires. The frequency table was used to find the percentages and descriptive statistics of the data, and also Chi-Square cross-tabulation was used to analyse the hypotheses with the aid of Statistical Packages for Social Science (SPSS) version 21.0 The findings revealed that 159 (97%) of the teachers have a good knowledge of child sexual abuse and 5 (3.0%) have poor knowledge of child sexual abuse prevention, 98 (59.8%) have positive attitude towards preventing child sexual abuse while 66 (40.2%) have negative attitude. 94 (57.3%) of the respondents have a high self-efficacy in child abuse prevention while 70 (42.7%) have low self-efficacy in child sexual abuse prevention. The results of this study showed that teacher's attitudes about child sexual abuse prevention are significantly related to self-efficacy in preventing sexual abuse but knowledge showed an insignificant relation to self-efficacy. It is recommended that teachers with poor knowledge of child sexual abuse should be trained on how to prevent the children from sexual abuse in the society which will enhance their knowledge.Item Metadata only Examining the impact of interviewer rejections following “Don't know” responses in forensic interviews of alleged preschool-aged victims of abuse(Applied Cognitive Psychology, 2024) Grung, R. M., Baugerud, G.-A., Røed, R. K., & Johnson, M. S.When forensic interviewers reject children's “Don't know” responses, either by repeating questions or pressuring the children to provide different responses, children may change their subsequent responses. The primary objective of the current study was to examine interviewer reactions following preschool-aged alleged abuse victims' “Don't know” responses in 114 forensic interviews and the children's responses to these rejections. Interviewer reactions were dichotomously coded as either interviewer acceptance (i.e., transitioning to the next logical question or formulating questions focusing on previously mentioned details) or interviewer rejection (i.e., repeating questions or making negative remarks about recall ability). The results showed that the interviewers accepted the children's “Don't know” responses 75.3% of the time and rejected them 24.7% of the time. When interviewers rejected the children's “Don't know” responses, 75.9% of the subsequent responses contradicted the children's initial responses. These results suggest that interviewer rejections following preschool-aged children's “Don't know” responses may be suggestive.Item Metadata only International Cooperation in The Investigation of Online Child Sexual Abuse and Sexual Exploitation Crimes(LEGEA ŞI VIAŢA, 2024) Popa, L.The article examines combating cybercrime, focusing on online child sexual abuse and exploitation. The author highlights the complexity of this problem, determined by the cross-border nature of the crimes and the rapid evolution of technologies. The present study emphasises the importance and the need for international cooperation for the analysed category of crimes. Information sharing between national and international authorities is essential for identifying offenders and protecting victims. The article explores forms of international legal assistance, with rogatory commissions and joint investigation teams being central, but also explores forms of international legal assistance specific to this category of crime. Compliance with and implementation of international conventions are also highlighted as vital in combating such crimes. Thus, the article provides a detailed analysis of the challenges and solutions needed to counter online child sexual abuse and exploitation, highlighting the need for a coordinated and comprehensive approach.Item Metadata only Protecting Fido, protecting the family: Developing domestic violence law to include companion animals(South African Crime Quarterly, 2022) Swemmer, S.This article argues that by developing domestic violence laws to include and protect individual companion animals in the home, it might be possible to prevent violence against other victims in the home. Protecting a companion animal from persistent violence by, for example, having properly integrated reporting systems between government departments, could protect various vulnerable members of the family. The article briefly sketches the status of intimate partner violence in South Africa and explores the current implementation of the Domestic Violence Act. The status of companion animal abuse in South Africa and other jurisdictions is briefly explored. The article then shows that an intersection of violence exists in the home between women, children and companion animal and that protecting specific victims of violence (such as companion animals) can potentially act as a mechanism that can protect all victims from future or persisting violence.Item Metadata only The body as a site of knowledge: Tacit and embodied narratives of child sexual abuse(Qualitative Social Work, 2023) Herland, M. D.Research on child sexual abuse has underacknowledged the multifaced, tacit and embodied dimensions, leaving the literature without a full picture of events that are often unspeakable, especially with regards to disclosure. This study thus placed emphasis on and highlighted the importance of increased awareness around lived lives and bodily narratives of child sexual abuse. The qualitative study consisted of 14 in-depth, retrospective interviews with Norwegian participants over the age of 18 who experienced child sexual abuse. The analysis shed light on the participants’ silenced and embodied experiences as children, captured by two overall narratives: a) the body speaks the truth and b) living with embodied messiness, complexity and confusion. The narratives that unfolded in participants’ recollections of their childhood embodied stories contain reflections on how the experiences are re-played within their bodies as adults. Study findings focus on participants’ embodied narratives of child sexual abuse – experiences that are often not captured by verbal language. The narratives brought forward in the interviews are linked with participants’ past experiences and current context, as well as interpersonal, emotional, cognitive and embodied processes, as part of the participants’ meaning making around their child sexual abusive histories. Study findings help explain embodied, tacit and complex dimensions concerning lived experiences of child sexual abuse. As such, this research speaks to the field of social work that encounters children and families facing this phenomenon.Item Metadata only An integrative treatment model of EMDR and family therapy for children with severe symptomatology after child abuse and neglect: A SCED study(Children and Youth Services Review, 2023) van der Hoeven, M. L., Plukaard, S. C., Schlattmann, N. E., Lindauer, R. J., & Hein, I. M.Background Children who endured child abuse and neglect (CAN) may develop a spectrum of symptoms that goes beyond the development of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) alone. This can pose unique challenges within the treatment context that may hamper the application of direct trauma-focused treatments. A new treatment model, which focuses on more than PTSS alone, has been developed. Through preparatory work, it aims to engage children in trauma processing. Objective This study aimed to examine if this integrative treatment model can diminish attachment problems, PTSS, behavior difficulties, and emotional control difficulties in children with a history of CAN who currently reside in permanent placement. Participants & Settings We included 15 children between the ages of four and twelve who experienced CAN in the past and who were referred to specialized youth mental health care and their caregivers. Methods We conducted a non-concurrent multiple baseline single-case experimental design study with weekly measurements on attachment problems, PTSS, behavior difficulties, and emotional control difficulties through questionnaires. Results Eight cases were fit to analyze of which all but one participant showed improvement on one or more of the four outcome measures. On group level, we found evidence for functional relationships between the intervention and change in attachment problems, behavioral difficulties, and emotional control difficulties. Conclusions This integrative treatment model appears to be a suitable treatment for children with a complex combination of psychiatric problems after CAN and therefore provides promising results for a complex population for whom limited treatment options are available.Item Metadata only Individual-level factors related to better mental health outcomes following child maltreatment among adolescents(Child Abuse & Neglect, 2018) Cheung, K., Taillieu, T., Turner, S., Fortier, J., Sareen, J., MacMillan, H. L., ... & Afifi, T. O.Research on factors associated with good mental health following child maltreatment is often based on unrepresentative adult samples. To address these limitations, the current study investigated the relationship between individual-level factors and overall mental health status among adolescents with and without a history of maltreatment in a representative sample. The objectives of the present study were to: 1) compute the prevalence of mental health indicators by child maltreatment types, 2) estimate the prevalence of overall good, moderate, and poor mental health by child maltreatment types; and 3) examine the relationship between individual-level factors and overall mental health status of adolescents with and without a history of maltreatment. Data were from the National Comorbidity Survey of Adolescents (NCS-A; n = 10,123; data collection 2001–2004); a large, cross-sectional, nationally representative sample of adolescents aged 13–17 years from the United States. All types of child maltreatment were significantly associated with increased odds of having poor mental health (adjusted odds ratios ranged from 3.2 to 9.5). The individual-level factors significantly associated with increased odds of good mental health status included: being physically active in the winter; utilizing positive coping strategies; having positive self-esteem; and internal locus of control (adjusted odds ratios ranged from 1.7 to 38.2). Interventions targeted to adolescents with a history of child maltreatment may want to test for the efficacy of the factors identified above.